Mass Media
by Blackdeer7
Summary: Segments of Diana Allers' show- Battlespace. Ch 1 – a panel discussion with Jane Shepard, David Anderson, The Illusive Man, the Catalyst and a couple of special guests. Tune in to find out what they have to say about ME3. Warning: ME3 spoilers.


The Panel 

"Good evening. My name is Diana Allers and welcome to Battlespace. Tonight we have a very special show for you. We have managed to bring five experts together this evening to sit on our panel and answer your questions about the fate of our galaxy. This is a once in a lifetime exclusive event, so hold onto your seats and enjoy the ride."

Allers walked to the far left corner of a long rectangle table. "The first member of the panel is Commander Jane Shepard, Alliance officer, the first human Spectre, and a person who was once thought to be dead. Commander, thank you for agreeing to be on the show."

The red-headed woman, who was seated in a plush rolling chair, gave a curt nod. "Ms. Allers. Glad I could be here. Truthfully, I'm just happy to be alive."

"To the Commander's left sits Admiral David Anderson of the Alliance Fleet. Admiral, I'm glad you could make it."

"Yes," said Anderson. He was outfitted in his dress blues with insignias and badge fully displayed. "Thank you for asking me."

"Next to the Admiral is a newcomer to this show – Marauder Shields. He was present at the final battle and has insights that we'd all like to hear. Welcome."

Marauder Shields tilted his head in acknowledgement.

"Which brings us to a controversial figure- the head of Cerberus who is called the Illusive Man." Turning her gaze toward the terrorist, Allers said, "Kind of cryptic for a leader."

Smiling sinisterly, the Illusive Man replied, "Protection and effectiveness have many forms, Ms. Allers."

"Creepy." Turning back toward the vid cam, Allers said, "The last member of the panel is known only as the Catalyst." Extending her hand toward the small glowing boy sitting next to the Illusive Man, Allers asked, "Can you tell us anything about yourself?"

"I am the Catalyst," replied the faux boy.

"Is there anything else you can tell the audience, so they have a better idea of what you do?"

"I control the Reapers."

"But can you tell us where you came from?"

"They are my solution."

"That's great. But who created you?"

The Catalyst stared apathetically at Allers, but said nothing.

"Okay, moving on." Turning her gaze toward Anderson, Allers asked, "Admiral, how was it to be in the trenches with the Commander? Isn't it true that this was your first time fighting side by side in actual combat?"

"Yes," replied Anderson.

"And how has that affected your relationship with the Commander?"

Anderson glanced over at the Spectre. "Shepard and I aren't speaking."

Curiosity piqued, Allers said, "Oh really? Care to comment on that, Commander?"

Instantly livid, Shepard turned to Anderson and barked, "You STOLE my ship!"

"You were in prison!" parried Anderson.

"YOU put me there!"

The Illusive Man straightened up in his chair. "I'd like to take this moment to point out that Shepard stole the Normandy from me, so technically it is _my_ ship."

The Spectre and Admiral turned to the Cerberus leader. In unison, they yelled, "SHUT UP!"

Quickly diverting the conversation, Allers asked, "Commander Shepard, after talking with the Catalyst you were presented with four different choices; why did you choose to control the Reapers?"

Shepard's brows furrowed as though deep in thought. "Well," she said, "blue is my favorite color."

A heavy silence filled the room.

Allers, her voice sounding skeptical, said, "So… you determined the fate of the galaxy by your favorite color?"

Defensively, Shepard said, "Not solely. I also got to live forever."

"As a Reaper!" yelled Allers.

"Not just any Reaper, a GOOD Reaper."

"_YOU ARE BACTERIA." _

Shepard turned to her right where, outlined in red, a miniature hologram of Harbinger appeared on the table top. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"_I SENSE YOUR WEAKNESS."_

Rolling her eye, Shepard scoffed, "For a machine you're bloody arrogant."

A perplexed looked crossed Allers' face. "Commander, who are you talking to?"

"_SHE IS VERMIN."_

The palm of Shepard's hand covered her face as her head shook in stupefaction. "GEEZUS, give it up already."

"_WE ARE THE HARBINGER OF YOUR ASCENDANCE."_

Allers cleared her throat. "Commander, are you okay?"

Shepard's hand fell from her face, then she looked directly at the reporter as she pointed a finger at the Reaper's hologram. "Can't you hear him?"

"_YOU ARE IGNORANT, WE ARE KNOWING."_

"Ah… no, Commander," said Allers. "I don't hear anything. Anyone else hear him?"

The rest of the panel shook their heads. Harbinger was only speaking to Shepard.

"_I WILL SHOW YOU TRUE POWER."_

Groaning, the Spectre said, "Consider yourselves lucky."

Ignoring Shepard's disarray, Allers said, "Getting back to the choices presented to you, why didn't you choose synthesis?"

"The green choice?"

"Yes, Commander."

Raising her eyebrow in annoyance, Shepard said, "I like to call that one 'My buddy, the husk.'"

"Commander?"

"I never liked the simple names given to the endings - Control, Synthesis, Destroy, Refusal. So I gave them my own names." Defiantly crossing her arms in front of her chest, Shepard explained, "I also like to call Synthesis 'Husks are my friends.' I mean, have you ever thought about what would happen to the husks in the ending? Or the banshees? Would they become sentient again? If we were all interconnected, what would they contribute to the collected consciousness?"

"That is an interesting question, Commander."

"_I KNOW YOU FEEL THIS." _

Ignoring Harbinger, Shepard continued, "I call the Control ending 'Sleeping with the Enemy'. Granted, I get to live forever, but I've just become my own worst enemy, too."

"_WE ARE YOUR GENETIC DESTINY."_

"The Destroy ending is pretty simple – 'Alone at Last.' After three years, I finally get to wipe out the bane of my existence. Sure, I am also wiping out all synthetic life, but according to the choice, genocide is a good thing."

"_WE WILL END YOU."_

Glancing over at Harbinger, Shepard rolled her eyes in exasperation, and then whispered, "Give it a rest already, Harby."

Noticing the Spectre's distracted state, Allers interjected, "And your name for the Refusal ending?"

Straightening her posture, Shepard said, "Well, let's be honest. That was more of a 'fuck you' ending from those waving the flag of artistic integrity. After all the struggling to get to that point, it just felt like a hand slap to the back of the head."

The Catalyst stood up. "You DARE to diminish the ending!"

"Um… yes," said Shepard, "I do. I wanted to live. To have at least one option of happily ever after."

"_HOPE IS IRRELEVANT."_

"You have no VISION," the Catalyst accused.

"I don't care about vision. I wanted the chance at having a life, not just options of die, die, die or maybe die."

"We gave you options! You should be happy!"

Stepping near the Catalyst, Allers said, "Hold on a minute… You said 'we'… not 'I'."

The Catalyst shook its head. "We did not."

"You just did it again!"

"No, we did not."

Allers turned to her float cam. "Replay the last minute of conversation. Audio only."

The audio recording sounded out in the room:_ "You said 'we'" - "We did not." – "You just did it again!" – "No, we did not."_

The reporter shot a deathly stare at the Catalyst who said nothing. The silence in the room was palpable as all eyes focused on the image of the young boy.

Finally, the Catalyst stated, "You are mistaken."

Allers took a step closer and demanded, "Who is 'we'?"

Crossing its arms, the Catalyst said, "We have nothing further to say."

"I WILL find out," threatened Allers.

The Catalyst looked to the left, looked to the right and then turned its gaze on the reporter. "Mac and Casey."

Anderson's voice interrupted. "That's preposterous!"

"I WAS the final boss fight in the game," said Marauder Shields.

Disbelief flashed across the reporter's face as she turned to the argument forming between the Admiral and Marauder Shields. "Pardon me?"

Marauder Shields repeated himself. "I was the final boss fight in the game."

'WHAT?" Shepard exclaimed in astonishment. "You were not!"

"I was!" countered Marauder Shields.

"I killed you with one pistol shot to the head! You were not that tough!"

"You were only playing casually! If you had gone after me on Insanity… then I would have handed you your ass!"

Shepard shook her head, her short red locks partial covering her blue eyes. "Whatever."

"You wanna go now?" challenged Marauder Shields. "I'll show you a BOSS fight! Come on, human!"

"See," said Shepard, "this is why Synthesis is not a good idea."

"_THIS HURTS YOU."_

Shepard muttered to herself, "And that is the other reason…"

As Marauder Shield stood up and made a move toward the Spectre, Allers stepped in front of the vid cam. "Thank you for watching tonight's segment. There will be more to come. This is Diana Allers for Battlespace. Good night and stay strong."


End file.
